FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 6.10.11

श्रीबादरायणिरुवाच एवं कृतव्यवसितो दध्यङ्‌ङाथर्वणस्तनुम् । परे भगवति ब्रह्मण्यात्मानं सन्नयञ्जहौ ॥ ११ ॥
śrī-bādarāyaṇir uvāca
[shree-baadaraayanir uvaacha]
evaṁ kṛta-vyavasito
[evam krita-vyavasito]
dadhyaṅṅ ātharvaṇas tanum
[dadhyann aatharvanas tanum]
pare bhagavati brahmaṇy
[pare bhagavati brahmany]
ātmānaṁ sannayaṣ jahau
[aatmaanam sannayash jahau]
śrī-bādarāyaṇiḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said evam — thus kṛta-vyavasitaḥ — making certain of what to do (in giving his body to the demigods) dadhyaṅ — Dadhīci Muni ātharvaṇaḥ — the son of Atharvā tanum — his body pare — to the Supreme bhagavati — Personality of Godhead brahmaṇi — the Supreme Brahman ātmānam — himself, the spirit soul sannayan — offering jahau — gave up.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-bādarāyaṇir uvāca
śrī-bādarāyaṇiḥ uvāca
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
evaṁ kṛta-vyavasito
evam
thus
kṛta-vyavasitaḥ
making certain of what to do (in giving his body to the demigods)
dadhyaṅṅ ātharvaṇas tanum
dadhyaṅ
Dadhīci Muni
ātharvaṇaḥ
the son of Atharvā
tanum
his body
pare bhagavati brahmaṇy
pare
to the Supreme
bhagavati
Personality of Godhead
brahmaṇi
the Supreme Brahman
ātmānaṁ sannayaṣ jahau
ātmānam
himself, the spirit soul
sannayan
offering
jahau
gave up.
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Dadhīci Muni, the son of Atharvā, thus resolved to give his body to the service of the demigods. He placed himself, the spirit soul, at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and in this way gave up his gross material body made of five elements.

As indicated by the words pare bhagavati brahmaṇy ātmānaṁ sannayan, Dadhīci placed himself, as spirit soul, at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In this regard, one may refer to the incident of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s leaving his body, as described in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.13.55) . Dhṛtarāṣṭra analytically divided his gross material body into the five different elements of which it was made — earth, water, fire, air and ether — and distributed them to the different reservoirs of these elements; in other words, he merged these five elements into the original mahat-tattva. By identifying his material conception of life, he gradually separated his spirit soul from material connections and placed himself at the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The example given in this connection is that when an earthen pot is broken, the small portion of the sky within the pot is united with the large sky outside the pot. Māyāvādī philosophers misunderstand this description of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Therefore Śrī Rāmānuja Svāmī, in his book Vedānta-tattva-sāra, has described that this merging of the soul means that after separating himself from the material body made of eight elements — earth, water, fire, air, ether, false ego, mind and intelligence — the individual soul engages himself in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His eternal form ( īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ/ anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam ). The material cause of the material elements absorbs the material body, and the spiritual soul assumes its original position. As described by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’: the constitutional position of the living entity is that he is the eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa. When one overcomes the material body through cultivation of spiritual knowledge and devotional service, one can revive his own position and thus engage in the service of the Lord.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Dadhīci, the son of Atharvā, offering himself to the Lord, gave up his body.
Dadhīci placed his self at the Lord's lotus feet and prepared to give the body. The right preparation for dying is putting the soul into Kṛṣṇa first, then releasing the body.
Reflection Questions
  • Where is my self anchored right now — and where will it be at the moment of release?
  • What practice plants the soul at the Lord's feet daily?
📝 My note

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